My Veneers Are Too Bright!

I had six porcelain veneers done in 2006 and I feel so-so on the results. I am pleased with the overall look of the teeth but feel misled about the coloring that was chosen.

My dentist and I collaborated on choosing the right color but keep in mind I’m not the professional in this scenario! Eventually I went with six veneers that were a few shades lighter than my back teeth. My dentist told me I could use teeth whitening gels to bring my darker teeth up to where they’d match the veneers. Now I think this was just a way to get more money from me.

I’ve been whitening and haven’t seen any major results, at least not to where my teeth match. My dentist says that if I’m not happy with those results then I can go in for cosmetic whitening. How convenient for him! He also said I can wait for the veneers to darken on their own (with age and dirt) but that’s not really why I had this done in the first place. I don’t think he was that interested in matching the color because he could always get more money from me to fix it completely, or maybe dentists live in a fantasy world where everyone has perfect white teeth. I don't know. Either way my veneers are permanent so from now on I have to correct everything else, presumably with his office.

My smile has definitely improved and I won’t deny that but I’m becoming increasingly conscious of the few discolored teeth that hang out when I smile and how mismatched they are. If I could do it over again I would have consulted with a few dentists and maybe asked around for recommendations first.